


my way or the highway

by hollyhobbit101



Series: Whumptober 2020 [3]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Forced to Kneel, Gun Violence, Hurt TK Strand, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:15:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26791249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollyhobbit101/pseuds/hollyhobbit101
Summary: Their jobs have risks. T.K. knows it, Carlos knows it, and they're okay with it. But when Carlos's job follows T.K. home one night, that risk suddenly becomes a lot more personal.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: Whumptober 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947304
Comments: 8
Kudos: 111
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	my way or the highway

**Author's Note:**

> i am not entirely happy with this but nothing would come of re-writing so here we are. 
> 
> from petrifiedfountainofthoughts on tumblr: if you're accepting prompts, could you write tarlos angst + TK being targeted because of Carlos/Carlos's job?
> 
> also written for whumptober day 3 - forced to their knees & held at gunpoint

T.K. just wants a normal evening. It had been a fairly routine day, no dramatic calls - hardly any, in fact - but he’s still tired and aching and wants nothing more than to curl up on the sofa with his boyfriend and fall asleep halfway through a movie. 

He doesn’t think it’s too much to ask. It certainly shouldn’t be. 

Apparently, it is, though.

“Look, man, why don’t you put the gun down and we can talk about this, okay?” T.K. holds his hands up, keeping his distance from the guy who decided to ambush him on the way back to Carlos’s. He looks young - younger than T.K. himself - but there’s a glint in his eyes that suggests he’s going to have no problem pulling the trigger.

“No!” he yells. “No, you just - You stay right there!” He moves a couple of steps closer, and T.K. has to fight the urge to move away.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he says, in what he hopes is a pacifying tone. “You don’t have to do this, we can help you -”

“Yes I do,” the guy interrupts, a sudden calm coming over him. “I do, it’s the only way.”

“It’s not -”

“Shut up!” He advances, the gun sickeningly close now. “Get on your knees.”

T.K. hesitates, chancing a glance past his attacker. The road is empty for now, and will likely stay that way, but if he can just hold out a little longer, then T.K. knows Carlos will come on his way back from work. He just has to stay alive.

Simple, right?

“You don’t want to do this,” he tries again. “Hurting me won’t solve anything, I promise.”

The guy’s expression wavers minutely, before solidifying back into a frenzied glare. “I said, get on your  _ fucking  _ knees.”

This time, T.K. complies, though he’s helped by the guy shoving him down hard. He keeps his hands raised and tries to tamp down the panic he can feel rising in his throat. “I don’t even know you,” he says.

The guy laughs, harsh and brittle. “Of course you don’t.  _ He  _ does, though.”

T.K. frowns. “Who’s ‘he’?”

He laughs again. “The cop. Your boyfriend. He knows me. Or, he knew my brother. Sent him to jail, in fact, except Pete was just some stupid kid. He wasn’t ready for it. The way they treated him in there…”

The cool metal of the gun presses against T.K.’s head. “Your boyfriend took my brother from me. Way I see it, this is  _ justice _ .”

And there’s a moment, a breath, when T.K. realises two things with startling clarity.

Number one: He is going to die.

Number two: He really,  _ really  _ doesn’t want to.

It’s not that he wanted to die before. Really, until recently, he’s been utterly neutral towards the idea of his own death. But now, with the click of the safety echoing in his ears, he knows that he’d do just about anything to keep on living. 

It’s that thought that motivates him to move, twisting his body away just as the gun fires. The bullet grazes his arm, but the pain is worth little and less as T.K. works to keep the guy from firing again.

The surprise works to his advantage, and for once his luck plays along too. A siren sounds and blue lights flash and Carlos jumps out of the car, disarming the attacker and handcuffing him. It all seems to happen in a matter of seconds, though logically T.K. knows that’s probably just the adrenaline. He brings a hand to his bleeding arm, but the wound doesn’t feel too bad.

“You okay?” Carlos asks, bundling the gunman into his car.

T.K. nods. “I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?” Carlos comes over to him, eyes big and worried. “You’re bleeding…”

“It’s just a scratch. I can handle it.” He smiles, but Carlos’s concerned gaze doesn’t waver. “I promise.”

Carlos doesn’t seem convinced, but T.K. refuses to let him worry over him, sweet though it is. He presses their foreheads together. “I’m okay,” he murmurs. “You go do your thing, I’ll get cleaned up, and I’ll be waiting for you when you get back.”

It’s a few moments longer before they separate, but some of the tension has eased out of Carlos. “At least let me drive you to the hospital,” Carlos says, and T.K. doesn’t have it in him to say no.

“As long as I get to pick the movie.”

Carlos grins. “Deal.”

Maybe they still have a shot at a normal night after all.

**Author's Note:**

> i am accepting prompts over on tumblr @morganaspendragonss!


End file.
